(CNSNews.com) – Just ahead of three more Republican nominating contests, a new poll -- a snapshot in time -- shows former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum leading President Barack Obama in a one-on-one matchup.

It’s a small lead for Santorum -- 1 percentage point, giving him a 45-44 percent edge over Obama.

“This is the first time Santorum has ever led the president in any poll,” the Rasmussen poll said. “Several other GOP challengers have led the president a single time in the polls, including Rick Perry, Herman Cain, and Newt Gingrich. Each man briefly held the lead while they were surging in the polls, only to fall quickly. It remains to be seen what will happen to Santorum’s support.”

The same daily tracking poll finds Obama actually beating former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the GOP frontrunner, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Neither Obama nor the other GOP candidates gets a majority in any of the hypothetical matchups.

On Tuesday, Colorado, and Minnesota hold caucuses and Missouri has a primary.

Santorum holds a slight lead over Romney in Minnesota, 29-27 percent, according to a Public Policy Polling survey of Colorado and Minnesota released on Feb. 5. The same poll shows that Romney leads comfortably in Colorado, 40-26 percent, over Santorum.

Meanwhile, there was media speculation over the weekend that Santorum would do well in Missouri because Gingrich is not on the ballot in that state.

With regards to the Rasmussen poll that found Santorum the only candidate beating Obama, other GOP candidates had respectable showings.

Obama wins 47 percent of the vote against Romney’s 43 percent, according to the Rasmussen daily poll for Feb. 5. Obama and Romney have been virtually tied in most polls for months. Obama leads Paul, 45-42 percent. Gingrich does worse among GOP candidates, losing to Obama 49-41 percent.

Romney has won nominating contests in New Hampshire, Florida and Nevada by large margins. Santorum narrowly won the Iowa caucus in early January. Gingrich convincingly won the South Carolina primary. Paul’s best performance thus far was a second place finish in New Hampshire.

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